Epiphany
by UchihaSakura4
Summary: Naruto has reason to believe that Hinata likes him, but he just can't believe it! To confirm his suspicions, Naruto askes her on a date. A word of advice to him: watch out for angry cousins. Mainly NaruHina


**A/N: Hey! This story takes place when everyone is about 18 or so. Yes, Sasuke is back…same reason as my other story (Funny Thing, Jealousy). Anyway, this idea popped into my head and I really wanted to write a one-shot about it. I wasn't sure how easy it was going to be to write a NaruHina fic because Naruto is such a dimwit, but I came up with this idea. I think it worked out pretty well, but let me know what you think! **

Disclaimer- I don't own Naruto

**Naruto's thoughts**

_Hinata's thoughts_

(A/N)

_**Epiphany **_

The snow fell lightly around the village of Konoha. Everyone was out and about shopping for the perfect Christmas presents. It was early December and everything was calm. Well, mostly everything.

"Sakura-chan!" Naruto exclaimed above the crowd of people.

Sakura turned to see the number one hyperactive, knuckle head ninja in Konoha, Naruto Uzumaki. She inwardly groaned. If she had to stop to talk to Naruto she was probably going to be late to work.

"Hai, Naruto?"

"Sakura-chan," he panted as he caught up to her, "Will you go on a date with me today?" he asked.

"Naruto, I can't. I have to go to work now, and I don't want to be late. Besides, you know Sasuke would kill me," she responded wearily.

Yes, Sasuke would indeed be mad. Sasuke and Sakura had been 'dating' for about three weeks now, and Naruto couldn't believe it. The human ice-cube? Dating? It's the apocalypse. But Sasuke _was_ dating Sakura, and he was incredibly over-possessive. Then again, it is Sasuke. Anything he has is HIS and no one dared to argue with him.

But I digress.

"Naruto, I'm sure that Hinata would love to go with you to Ichiraku's," Sakura added in an assuring tone. Naruto pouted.

"Okay," he sighed. Hinata was nice and everything, but he couldn't understand why she was always so red around him. He was starting to wonder if she was sick or something. Naruto turned and walked away from Sakura, who was now hurrying to the hospital, in an attempt to locate Hinata. He had been meandering around town when he saw Ino and Shikamaru talking. Normally he wouldn't have stopped, but Naruto heard his name. This, he decided, was a good enough reason to eavesdrop. Naruto snuck closer to listen in on what they were saying.

"Well, Naruto isn't going to be able to ask Sakura on dates anymore," Ino said, "Because _now_ she's dating Sasuke. I don't know what she did to get him to agree to _that,_" she added.

Shikamaru sighed. "Maybe because he likes her," he suggested. Ino scoffed.

"Shika-kun, I don't think so. Sasuke is the human ice block. Why do you think I gave up on him?" she asked sarcastically.

Shikamaru sighed. "Troublesome," he muttered.

"Anyway," Ino continued as if she hadn't heard him, "Hinata has liked Naruto for ages. I don't understand how he can't notice; it's so obvious!"

Naruto stared. **Hinata-chan, like me? No, that can't be right…she always seems uncomfortable around me…there's no way…**

"Yeah, well…maybe she'll work up the courage to tell him one day," Shikamaru said.

Ino sighed. "I hope so."

Naruto had enough. He turned and left. This was interesting to him and he wanted to know if it was true. Did Hinata really like him, or were others just playing a cruel joke on him.

He had to know. Naruto finally found his way to the Hyuga house and was about to knock on the main door when he heard someone calling his name softly.

"N—Naruto-kun?"

He spun around at the familiar voice. Hinata was standing there with a confused look on her face. Naruto gave her a toothy grin.

"Hey Hinata-chan! I was wondering if you wanted to go with me to Ichiraku's?"

Hinata's face turned red. **There it is again! Why does she do that every time I am around her?**

"S—sure Naruto-kun. I'd l—love to," she stuttered.

"Great! I'll see you there at 8:00, okay?"

She nodded numbly.

"See you later, dattebayo!" With that he turned and ran off in the direction of his apartment. Hinata let out a huge breath she didn't realize she was holding. _ I can't believe Naruto-kun just asked me out on a date! When did he say, 8:00? I have to hurry, it's already 6:30! _Hinata ran inside, almost bumping into a bewildered Neji, and fretted over her appearance.

* * *

Naruto sighed. He wasn't sure if he needed to change or if he would be fine the way he was. Naruto had outgrown of his orange jumpsuit, surprisingly. He was now wearing a net shirt with a dark navy blue shirt above that with the front slightly open; he also wore the regular the black ninja pants. Naruto ran a hand through his hair and sighed again. **Does it really matter? I mean jeez, I'm acting like a girl with all this worrying about what I'm going to **_**wear**_**. I think I look fine.** Naruto nodded slightly and looked at the clock. 7:55pm. **I should go.** He turned and headed out the door.

* * *

Hinata looked in the mirror apprehensively. She couldn't believe she was going on a date with Naruto Uzumaki. Just the thought of it made her blush. She was currently wearing a net shirt with a gray-ish, white shirt on over it and black ninja pants. Her hair was longer now, and pulled into a bun. _It's going to have to do. If I don't leave now, I'll probably be late. I can't do that on my first date with Naruto-kun. I hope this isn't the last one either._ Hinata looked at the clock. It was 7:50pm. _Time to go._ Hinata hurried out the door.

* * *

When Naruto got to Ichiraku's Hinata was already there, sitting in a stool waiting for him.

"Sorry Hinata-chan! I hope I'm not late," he said sheepishly.

Hinata smiled. "It's okay, Naruto-kun."

Naruto beamed. "Good! Hey what do you want? I think I'm gonna have miso ramen," he said excitedly.

Hinata smiled again. "I'll have the s—same," she replied.

So Naruto chatted happily away for a bit while they ate their ramen. He looked over at Hinata. She was calmly eating her food with a faint blush on her cheeks. **I wonder…whenever Sasuke is nice too Sakura…not like that happens often…but when it does, she always gets red in the face too. I think it's because she likes Sasuke. So maybe, the reason Hinata is always blushing is because…**he shook his head to clear his thoughts.

"No way," he murmured.

Hinata looked up. "Did you say something, Naruto-kun," she asked.

"Huh? Nothing Hinata-chan! Hey, I have a question," he said.

"What is it, Naruto-kun?" she asked timidly.

"Do…do you like me?" he asked awkwardly.

Hinata stared at him for a moment before promptly fainting. She almost fell off the stool, but Naruto caught her just in time.

"Oh shoot! Um, here's for dinner, thanks!"

He threw the money on the counter and lifted up Hinata. **What do I do with her? I need to lay her somewhere…**suddenly he saw a glimpse of pink and ran towards it. "Sakura-chan!!" he called desperately.

Sakura blinked. "Was that Naruto?" she muttered.

Sasuke, who was walking beside her, sighed. They both turned around. Sakura was ready to tell Naruto she couldn't go on a date with him when she saw Hinata in his arms.

"Um, Naruto…why are you carrying Hinata? And why is she unconscious?"

"Well, I heard Shikamaru and Ino saying that Hinata-chan liked me so I asked her on a date, and during the date I asked her if she liked me…and well…she fainted. Sakura-chan, what should I do?!" he asked frantically.

Sasuke scoffed. "Dobe," he muttered.

"Teme! If I wasn't holding Hinata-chan right now you would really be regretting that!"

Sasuke smirked. "Whatever…dobe."

Naruto looked like he was about to tackle Sasuke when Sakura stepped in between the two.

"Seriously guys, we aren't twelve anymore so stop acting like it! Now, Naruto, you need to set her down. Her house is too far away, so why don't you take her to your apartment until she wakes up and then walk her home?"

"My apartment?!"

"Yes Naruto, your apartment."

Naruto swallowed nervously. "Okay Sakura-chan."

They stood there for a moment longer just staring at each other. "Naruto, now!" Sakura yelled angrily.

"Okay!" He turned and ran off. **Scary!**

Sakura relaxed and turned back to Sasuke. "Really," she muttered, "I can't believe he just figured out she likes him."

Sasuke shrugged.

"I mean, you knew it didn't you?"

"Hn."

"And…Sasuke, what did I tell you about saying that word?" she asked dangerously.

He shrugged again. Sakura glared daggers at him. "Not to use it," he said annoyed.

Sakura smiled. "Anyway, she has liked him for—"

"Sakura," Sasuke interrupted.

"What?"

"I really don't care," he said bluntly. Sakura fumed.

"Fine!" She stormed ahead of him.

Sasuke groaned. He ran after her and grabbed onto her shoulders. "Sorry," he muttered into her ear so softly he barely heard it himself. But Sakura heard, while rather red in the face, and smiled.

"It's okay Sasuke, it didn't really matter anyway." He nodded and they walked off.

* * *

Hinata moaned and tried to roll over. Suddenly her eyes snapped open. _This is __not__ my room…where am I?_ She sat up and looked around. She soon spotted a photograph of Sasuke, Sakura, and Naruto with Kakashi.

_Is this Naruto-kun's apartment? _

Naruto walked into the room and Hinata practically fainted. She was indeed in _Naruto's _apartment, and in _Naruto's bed_. Naruto quickly ran up and kneeled in front of her with a concerned expression on his face.

"Hinata-chan! Are you okay? You fainted or something and I wasn't sure what to do so I brought you back with me. I can walk you home if you want," he added worriedly.

"Naruto-kun, I—I'm okay. You don't n—need to walk me home; I can go by myself." She thought for a moment and added, "I'm sorry if I worried you. Thank you for taking care of me."

Naruto smiled. "That's okay Hinata-chan! I didn't mind. But I am going to walk you home. I can't let you do that by yourself!"

Hinata blushed. She didn't want to argue with him, so Hinata and Naruto walked back to the Hyuga Manor. When they got there Naruto looked at his watch, which read 10:00pm.

"Oh jeez! It's really late. Sorry about that Hinata-chan," he said bashfully.

Hinata smiled softly. "It's okay Naruto-kun."

Naruto grinned. "So Hinata-chan, you never answered my question…"

"O—oh, I…uh…Naruto-kun, I…," Her face turned deep red and she focused on her feet. "I do like you Naruto-kun," she whispered quietly, just loud enough for him to hear. Naruto's jaw dropped and he stared at her for a few seconds before composing himself. Then he grinned again and stepped closer to her. When she looked up she realized he was so close, that their noses were almost touching. _Don't faint… don't faint…don't faint…_

"Naruto-kun?"

"I like you too Hinata-chan."

The blush deepened. _Oh Kami, did he really just say that? I must not faint, I must not faint!_

"I…uh…"

He moved closer. Her eyes closed. Naruto was about to kiss her when someone yelling interrupted him.

"WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING, UZUMAKI!!!" yelled a very disturbed Neji Hyuga.

Naruto gulped. "Uh, Neji…it's not what you think, dattebayo!"

"And what am I thinking, Uzumaki?" Neji asked dangerously. Naruto was about to respond when Hinata took the initiative.

"It's okay Neji-san, Naruto-kun was just walking me home. I'll come inside in a moment," she said quickly. Neji didn't seem to believe her but turned and walked back anyway. He opened the door but stopped.

Without turning around he said, "Uzumaki, don't do anything stupid." Neji disappeared into the house and the door closed softly. Hinata let out a small sigh and turned back to Naruto. _If I don't gather up the courage now, then nothing may ever happen… _Hinata walked purposefully up to Naruto and gave him a small kiss on the check, and then turned around and hurried back to the manor, blushing furiously. Before she opened the door, Hinata heard Naruto call her name. She turned to look at him, and he looked like he was in a stupor.

"Hinata-chan," he said again.

"Hai?"

"Can I see you again tomorrow night?" he asked hopefully. "After all, this date didn't go so well, did it?"

Hinata smiled. "Yes, Naruto-kun."

He grinned. "Good."

She walked inside, ran into her room, and sunk onto her bed with a smile on her face. _I don't believe it; I'm dating Naruto-kun!!_

* * *

Naruto watched her walk inside, making himself remain calm, but as he turned and walked home, he found that he wanted to run and go tell anyone and everyone that he was dating Hinata Hyuga. He didn't realize how much he really liked her until now, and he sped up his pace towards his apartment.

* * *

The next day Sakura was walking towards the hospital like usual, when she heard her name being called again.

"Naruto," she grumbled under her breath as she turned around to greet the hyperactive boy.

"Sakura-chan, guess what?" Naruto asked enthusiastically.

"What Naruto?"

"I'm dating Hinata-chan now! She told me she liked me yesterday, so I am taking her to Ichiraku's again tonight!"

That was when he spotted Neji watching them. "Oh shoot!" Naruto muttered, "Ha ha, Sakura-chan, I have to go now. Ja ne!"

With that he turned and ran off from a furious looking, not to mention overprotective, Neji. (Sound like anyone else we know? coughsasukecough)

**A/N: Wow, that actually took forever to type. I knew what I wanted to happen, but I really didn't know how to end it. My friend told me to make it funny, so I tried. Hope you enjoyed it! I'll be working on the next chapter of 'Funny Thing, Jealousy' now, but I had to finish this first! (Sorry!) Anyway, when I snap my fingers you will have an overwhelming urge to review! –snap-**

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